


Between Each Line (of Pain and Glory)

by 87sighs



Category: How to Get Away with Murder
Genre: Canon Compliant, Episode 3x04, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-21
Updated: 2016-11-21
Packaged: 2018-09-01 05:26:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8610496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/87sighs/pseuds/87sighs
Summary: Extended scenes from Episode 3x04: Don't Tell Annalise.





	1. Can't Do Without You

**Author's Note:**

> Title from _Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me_ by Gladys Knight  & the Pips.

“Sure you don’t want to share a cab? Or maybe take this party somewhere else?” 

 

He really hadn’t been deterred by the total lack of interest from either of them. Eve is saved from having to answer when the other guy slings his arm around his persistent friend’s shoulders and gives him a good squeeze. 

 

“C’mon. Don’t be that guy.” 

 

“What?” He shrugs and graciously hold the door open as the four leave the din of the bar behind. “I had to ask.” 

 

“No, you really didn’t.” 

 

The men say their goodbyes, although not before passing along their business cards because why not. Left in the relative quiet of a mid-week night on the town, Eve directs Annalise closer toward the street to wait. Somehow Eve being able to walk in a straight line seems the epitome of elegance and grace. Annalise practically giggles.

 

Propping her hip against the back of an iron bench, Annalise is uncommonly chipper. Certainly more upbeat than she had been at the beginning of the night. Sometimes she forgets what it feels like to let go and just be happy and unburdened even if those few hours pass too quickly.

 

Her cheeriness wavers just a bit as a dull pain jabs behind her skull. Annalise grimaces. Eve immediately notices the distress and pouts, empathy drawn on her face as she moves closer. She rubs at the base of Annalise’s neck with gentle fingers. 

 

“Are you sure Nate’s already at your place? Or Bonnie? I don’t want you to be alone.” 

 

“Doesn’t matter. Not like I haven’t done this before.” Eve is clearly not satisfied, so Annalise tries again. “Yes, I’m sure Nate’s there. Is my house ever empty?”

 

The sarcasm tickles Eve. Annalise gazes up at her, appreciating Eve’s caring touch and carefree laugh. The butter-yellow shine of the street light throws an imperfect halo around them. Annalise nestles back into the warmth of Eve’s side and blinks away the effects, not that it does much good. She’s so lit right now. 

 

Eve holds out her arm trying to flag down a ride. “This was a lot of fun.”

 

“Mmm.” Annalise tilts her head back, face bright. She bumps Eve’s hip with her own. “You’ve still got moves.”

 

Eve stares back with a smile of her own. “You’re just a great partner.” 

 

Even in her drunkenness, Annalise knows there's meaning in that. The sounds of feet and passing cars fade into the background. Eve’s vision shrinks to Annalise’s mouth. Annalise’s heart beats faster, thumping in her ears. Her eyes meet Eve’s then back to her lips, a fraction closer than they were before. Annalise isn’t sure which of them leans in, but the magnetism would be so dangerously easy to give in to. 

 

In slow motion, Eve dips forward but only to press her cheek against Annalise’s forehead. The shorter woman closes her eyes tight. 

 

“Cab’s here.” 

 

The whisper brings Annalise back to reality. 

 

Car squeaking to a halt, the driver waits as Annalise tugs Eve into a brief hug. She gathers her coat around her and contorts into the cab awkwardly. Eve holds the door open a little longer, crouching down slightly to seek out Annalise’s droopy eyes. Her lips spread wide, teeth nibbling at her lip. She contemplates saying something more but doesn’t. Eve blows a sweet air kiss at Annalise instead. Smiling, Annalise murmurs goodbye and waits as the door closes and her ride merges into traffic. 

 

Everything is a blur, but Annalise holds onto her momentary bliss.


	2. You're the Only One

“It doesn’t mean anything.” 

 

Annalise swipes the wetness from her cheeks. She loosens her hold, pulling away from the embrace. Eve sniffs, not hiding the confusion on her face as her arms hang uselessly after Annalise’s sudden departure. 

 

“The kissing. It doesn’t have to mean anything. I came on to you.” Annalise steps back. “I don’t want you to get in trouble with your- Vanessa.” 

 

Eve breaks eye contact, shaking her head as the words sink in. “I haven’t even thought about that.” 

 

She clasps her hands to her stomach. The silence projects uncertainty, and Eve waits. 

Slowly, Annalise goes back to the sofa. She gazes at Eve, who takes the initiative and sits, bridging the tiny physical distance between them with an upturned palm. Annalise’s lips spread, hesitant at first, as she acknowledges the gesture. Her face burns as more tears well up and threaten to spill down her cheeks, but she doesn’t shy away from Eve’s wide-eyed stare. Annalise interlocks their fingers. Her throat bobs as she tries to forestall any more crying. She does so much of that. _Too much._

 

“This does mean something though.” 

 

The words are spoken plainly, but there’s a fierceness in Eve’s reddened eyes almost daring Annalise to try to deny that simple truth or begging her to give voice to another. For one of them to stop being so damn noble.

 

“It does.” Annalise squeezes her hand. There’s a small measure of comfort in the way she can accept their connection despite the circumstance. But it hardly means anything now, that comfort trampled in the wake of her valiant retreat. She pins Eve with stubborn earnestness, determination cutting off the question that she knows is on the tip of Eve’s tongue. “But I meant what I said. You should go. Look at you, you’re in love. I’d never stand in the way of your happiness.”

 

“But you are a big part of that happiness. That hasn’t changed.” Eve sighs deeply. They could probably talk in circles around this all night. “I leave tomorrow. Back to New York not- not San Francisco. That’s still….” When she notices Annalise’s frown, Eve assures, “It’s not just about you. I have so much to work out, and I haven’t forgotten the whole Mahoney thing either. I’m sorry I haven’t found out more.” 

 

Annalise pulls her hand away, waving off Eve’s concern. “Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ll figure something out.” 

 

“Of course you will.” Eve sort of rolls her eyes, a smile twisting her lips. She sniffs and slowly her expression goes flat again. “I have a lot to think about. I haven’t made a decision.”

 

“You have. You’re just dragging your feet.” Annalise knows Eve intimately, knows that it’s rare for her to be so indecisive. Annalise recalls the way Eve’s face began to light up when she mentioned Vanessa, the joy at finding a real love. If Eve has been waiting for an excuse to throw that away, Annalise won’t give it to her. She won’t be the reason Eve lets go of something solid and good to keep grasping at the shifting grains of sand that are Annalise’s messy life. 

 

“Now you sound like Vanessa.” It’s not difficult at all for Eve to admit she’s scared to move forward. This new relationship has been wonderful, but what if she’s not ready to commit to it fully? Eve looks away. What if she _is_? “Maybe I should…” She lets the suggestion hang there and nods decisively when it becomes clear Annalise won’t try to dissuade her. 

 

There’s a slight hesitation, Eve studying Annalise for a moment before standing to gather her things. The walk to the front door is a long one, and Annalise follows a step behind with downcast eyes. Chilly night air prickles Annalise’s bare skin as Eve opens the door, and she folds her arms to ward off the sensation. 

 

She’s preparing to say her goodbye, but the door _thunks_ closed. Eve’s hand tightens around the knob as she faces Annalise again. Worry swirls in her eyes. 

 

“Where do we go from here?” 

 

“You go to San Francisco. I stay here and take my ass to AA until I can be a real lawyer again.”

 

“That doesn’t really answer my question, does it? You know what I mean.” 

 

Annalise clamps her thumb and forefinger together, squeezing a chunk of sensitive skin on the underside of her arm to distract from the pain radiating from her chest. “What do you want me to say, Eve? You’re moving three thousand miles away-”

 

“Closer to twenty-five hundred, but who’s counting?” 

 

“Three hour time difference.” 

 

Eve shrugs off the excuses, shaking her head. “We both work long, sometimes odd, hours anyway.” 

 

“You don’t want things to change between us, I get it,” she says, voice more forceful than she intends. She’s not angry just…just tired. Hurting. “But they will change. I can’t say what will happen and neither can you.”

 

For several moments they don’t speak, and the old home fills the stilted void with its creaks and groans. Vision blurry, Eve’s focus floats around the little room instead of the woman who can’t meet her eyes. Here in this moment she can’t help but remember the first time she’d walked through these doors unannounced. 

 

After so many years apart, Eve had been nervous and eager to see Annalise again in person - not just the little mentions of her name tied to this case or that, not the stock photo used in Harvard alumni material, and certainly more than the fading snapshots of their younger selves. Eve had jumped at the chance to see Annalise as the woman she is now and quickly discovered that for all the things that were different one thing was not. Annalise was still the only person who could completely undo her yet being with her was the most _right_ Eve has ever felt. 

 

And now she stands about to walk out the same way she’d come for what feels like the final time. She's always known the way their story would go. Regardless of the many rewrites and ad-libs, the end was always coming.

 

“No, I know,” Eve finally concedes. “We both have a lot on our plates, and I don’t mean to dump my feelings on you to top it off. I know it’ll take time to adjust to things. I just- I don’t want years to go by this time. Can we just agree not to let that happen?” 

 

Annalise eventually lifts her head. She looks at this amazing woman who has always given her so much and who’s only asking for Annalise to still give them a chance at _something_. Her throat tightens, but she’s surprised how easy it is for her to nod yes. 

 

Eve reaches out, at first settling for a gentle caress of Annalise’s arm. It’s not enough. Instead she folds Annalise into a hug with tears filling her eyes. Annalise breathes in deeply, and with her arms trapped between their bodies, she burrows into Eve’s embrace and commits it to memory. She can maneuver her hands just enough to clench the edge of Eve’s coat so she does, pulling the taller woman closer to force out every other molecule of stuff that might come between them. One infinite moment for them to just be. 

 

“Take care of yourself, Annalise,” Eve whispers against the shell of Annalise’s ear. 

 

“You too.”

 

Leaning away, Eve pauses again, her touch lingering on Annalise until the end. 

 

A pained smile flashes across Annalise’s face. She savors the gift of Eve’s presence and her love. “Go. I’ll be fine.” 

 

From the doorway, Annalise watches her leave, only cutting off the view once the cab’s tail lights are out of sight. The glass panels rattle as she closes the doors. Annalise's chest expands, filling with loss. She rubs her cheeks even though they’d dried long ago and left her skin salty and tight. With determined steps she heads to the kitchen. Annalise fingers the liquor cabinet, trembling, but in the end she turns her back to it. Her body sags as she stands alone.


End file.
